Transformers Prime: The Rebirth
by PhoenixKnight13
Summary: Cybertron is being rebuilt and peace is all but assured. Unfortunately, an apparently sinister force is lurking in the shaodws. Causing tension with the already edgey Vehicon's. And Megatron is having unsettling visions of imminent danger. Can Smokescreen keep peace with the Vehicon's and solve the mystery of the ghost of Cybertron?


**Transformers Prime: The Rebirth**

This fanfic is based on Transformers Prime animated series. It is a direct sequel to "Transformers Prime: Time War". As before I've done my best to stay as true to the characterizations of the characters from the "Transformers Prime" series. Sorry it took me so long, but I finished it!

Transformers Prime and all Transformers characters, places and items mentioned are the property of © Hasbro.

* * *

 **Chapter: 1**

Cybertron was looking more and more alive than it had in centuries. There was music being trumpeted, the cheers and shouts of 'bots, for at long last, Cybertron was welcoming the return of refugees.

Smokescreen was now in charge, despite his own reservations, Ultra Magnus agreed to be his second in command, and Ratchet would stand in as an advisor until his return to earth.

Bulkhead was more cheerful than ever.

"Your very first meet-and-greet. You must be over the moon, kid! I mean Smokescreen. I mean Smokescreen Prime? Uh...?" he blundered.

"Just Smokescreen." Smokescreen corrected him, "And I'll admit, I'm excited myself. But, to be honest, I'm a little nervous, as well. Feeling self-conscious I suppose."

"You are a prime now, Smokescreen. Embrace it! I'm telling you, if I were a prime. I'd never stop letting everybody know it." Knock Out advised, grinning smugly as he marched ahead of the others.

"Huh, don't think I've ever seen him that cheery." Bulkhead grunted.

"Don't you mean full of himself?" Arcee quipped.

A group of flying Vehicons soared overhead. The fliers were rushing to meet the new arrivals.

Upon Megatron's dissolution of the Decepticons, Smokescreen insisted on treating all remaining Vehicons as civilian Cybertronians.

Team Prime made their way down to the presidium; reconstructed recently by Bulkhead and his Vehicon volunteers. It was bathed in lights to make it easier for landing craft, many had already arrived, anxiously awaiting the new arrivals landing.

They continued down the next block.

"I'm glad you'll all be there, pretty much all I can do is smile and wave." Smokescreen lamented.

"Yes, but you get to smile and wave like a _prime_." Knock Out argued.

Bulkhead scratched his head.

"How's that any different than smiling and waving like _not_ a prime?" he asked.

"It isn't." Smokescreen replied sullen.

Knock Out gave Bulkhead a quick jab in the side with his elbow. But Bulkhead only shrugged back in confusion.

"Sorry, I guess I've just been feeling a little unsure about things lately. It doesn't seem that my new responsibilities equate to all that much." Smokescreen clarified.

"That's preposterous. You have an important role on Cybertron." Ratchet argued.

"I suppose you're right." Smokescreen nodded.

"Of course we are. Now hurry along! We don't want to risk having that important role diminished because we were tardy." Knock Out urged Smokescreen forward, and the others fell in behind.

In all honesty, Smokescreen was not as eager to meet the arrivals as the others. He kept worrying he was going to make a mistake.

Ultra Magnus seemed to realize this.

"Of course, if you'd like some advise on the matter." he asked pointedly.

Smokescreen turned to face him.

"I'd appreciate anything you can give me." he replied earnestly.

"While I know nothing about being a prime, I do know a thing or two about leadership. You need to _make_ yourself into a leader. Once you come to _believe_ that is what you are. Then, others will come to believe it too."

Smokescreen thought hard on that for a moment. "Can you teach me?" he asked finally.

Ultra Magnus regarded the question thoughtfully before he spoke again.

"Perhaps I can, at least, give you a guide to teach yourself. I'll put it this way. You're already aware of how you hold yourself. With that in mind, put yourself in the attitude of what you remember of your commanding officers, or even Optimus himself. Recall how they held themselves, and hold yourself in a similar manner. Behave in all ways in that manner, and as this becomes second nature, your mind will come to believe what your body tells it."

Smokescreen blinked at that, and self-consciously straightened.

"Good." said Ultra Magnus approvingly.

After this the group arrived at the platform. Smokescreen frowned slightly as he scanned the sky, noting the crowd was growing restless. Then it came, it was a large space craft. About the same size as the Decepticon warship Nemesis.

The crowd was boiling over with anticipation. Gusts of air from the ships' engines blew torrents of wind in all directions, scattering dust that everyone, save Knock Out ignored.

"Pft! I hate dust." he grumbled.

Smokescreen still felt particularly uneasy, he was all too aware of what it would mean if this ceasefire went right - and if it went wrong. Handling peace negotiations wasn't going to be easy, the reconciliation of two old enemies was going to be hard, especially without Optimus.

The ship touched down with a low rumble, landing gear pressing down onto the platform. The ship's engines suddenly ceased.

"The ship's hatch is opening," said Ultra Magnus.

At that the main hanger door of the ship opened.

The first thing to step off the ship was a Vehicon trooper. The Decepticon in question expressed a modicum of surprise, it was obvious he hadn't expected to be greeted by Autobots.

More Vehicons came down the off-loading ramp, much to Team Prime's thinly hidden dismay.

"Great, first Unicron, now a ship full of Decepticons. What'll be next, the Fallen?" Arcee bemoaned.

"It gets worse." Bumblebee noted grimly, as the Vehicons were accompanied by a contingent of Insecticons.

They had remained in close proximity to there ship, no doubt as unsure of the situation as Team Prime.

Then, the one who appeared to be in charge approached them, and he appeared none-too-happy. Feeling uneasy, Smokescreen straightened up again, trying to look wise and dignified.

"Where are lord Megatron and commander Starscream?! I demand to know what's going on!" the Vehicon vented.

"Boy is he in for a shock." Knock Out noted quietly.

The particular Vehicon and two of his party then marched over to the group.

"Okay, here we go." Smokescreen noted quietly as he braced himself for the coming onslaught.

"This is going to be interesting." Sky Lynx noted.

 _Stand like a commanding officer_ , he reminded himself _. You are a prime now. Raise your chin. Stand tall…_

"What-" the Vehicon was about to say more, and Smokescreen interrupted him, hoping he could keep his voice from shaking or going shrill with nervousness.

"We sympathize with your confusion, I can assure you that everything will be explained to you and your crew in full detail as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have any injured or allying crewmembers, please speak to Ratchet or Knock Out."

He gestured to the pair.

"Both will be more than happy to handle the care of all of your crew."

The Vehicon actually scowled at Smokescreen, and looked as if he was going to challenge Smokescreen for talking to him in such a tone.

Smokescreen knew it was his turn now. He self-consciously straightened up. No more hunched shoulders; no more deference. He must look other bots in the eye as if he was at least there equal, and possibly his inferiors. And yes, down his nose.

"So, you're the top bot..." the Vehicon trooper noted pointedly. "Are we going to be your _slaves_ now?" he asked sarcastically.

A low murmur began passing through the crowd of Vehicons who had no great desire to return to being "disposable".

The team looked between the Vehicons and Smokescreen.

"No," Smokescreen gently but firmly answered.

"A new age is starting for all of Cybertron. Were we all have the freedom to decide our own fate." Smokescreen said, narrowing his eyes, feigning calm, though what he really felt was a tight fear in his gut.

The Vehicon quickly scanned him and his appearance. By the look in his eye, Smokescreen suspected he was deciding whether or not to argue further.

There was an air about the newcomer, too; despite being a Vehicon trooper, he kept his head held high with his chin up and shoulders back. He was used to giving orders—haughty and confident. This was no ordinary Decepticon grunt, he'd been through much.

"Whatever," the Vehicon snapped, and turned to walk away. Smokescreen gave him a thankful look.

Knock Out just pinged him a "Cheery fellow." once he was out of earshot.

"So. Anybody wanna rush over and meet the new neighbors." Arcee asked mockingly cheerful.

"How many Con's do you think there are?" Bulkhead inquired.

"Round about five-hundred, and about a dozen Insecticons from the look of it. Course, I'm no expert." Knock Out replied.

Wheeljack frowned, "This ain't gonna be easy."

Smokescreen nodded grimly.

"Yeah."

xxxx

Megatron meanwhile had landed upon a small secluded planet. He had made his new home in a large open valley near a waterfall where raw, natural energon crystals grew all over. Megatron looked out upon the valley. He sighed, reflecting upon times long forgotten.

Megatron's time in seclusion on the planet made him realize more and more that he'd been wrong from the start. Optimus had been in the wright all along.

Megatron took a glance at the clear and beautiful sky. He closed his eyes, regret was his only companion now.

 **Chapter: 2**

"What do you mean _I'm_ in charge?" Knock Out demanded loudly.

Ultra Magnus had just informed Knock Out that he'd been tasked with keeping the Insecticons out of trouble.

For his part, Knock Out found the very idea of becoming an Insecticon chaperone ludicrous.

"There _must_ be someone better qualified!" he argued.

"We're spread thin at the moment, we all have to pull our own weight." Ultra Magnus replied in a tired tone, "As such, we are all having to take on responsibilities we feel unsuited too."

"But, but there _Insecticons_!" Knock Out protested.

"And they've agreed not to cause any trouble, so long as their supervisor is a former Decepticon officer." the Autobot commander stated.

"Besides, Smokescreen recommended you for this. He has complete faith in your leadership abilities. " he added poignantly.

"Ugh!" Knock Out grumbled, "But what am I supposed to _do_ with them?" he asked urgently.

"Look, you're a medical expert. Maybe you can teach them some rudimentary medicine." Ultra Magnus suggested sympathetically.

Knock Out looked back at the Insecticons, who were currently wrestling with each other, then turned to give the commander a pointed look.

"...Really?" he asked in a deadpan tone.

Ultra Magnus tried to remain implacable.

"Just do what you can, I have to go." he added, before unfolding his arms and leaving.

"Lucky me." Knock Out muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You! I know of you. You are Knock Out." said a loud graveled voice from behind him.

Knock Out straightened up in alarm. He turned slowly to see one of the Insecticons standing right behind him.

"Gahh! I mean, yes. That would be me." He righted himself.

There was a long pause as the Insecticon looked him over.

Then, much to Knock Out's surprise, the Insecticons knelt down before him.

"It is an honor to meet you commander."

Knock Out looked around at all of them, perplexed.

"Okaaay-"

"Is it true you stood against Unicron the Chaos Bringer and his army of undead when Starscream and Shockwave fled?" asked another Insecticon.

"Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it-" Knock Out mulled over the idea.

The lead Insecticon turned to the others.

"It is as I said. At least one of Megatron's elite is no coward! He stood and fought Unicron himself!"

The other Insecticons cheered.

"Um. I... What now?" Knock Out was more confused than ever.

The Insecticon leader continued to prostrate before him.

"We will follow you now, commander."

For a moment Knock Out was completely befuddled.

He then smirked.

"Hmm, some civilized company." he noted thoughtfully.

xxxx

The Vehicons had autonomy inside the city; and indeed, were being treated largely with as little hostility as possible from Team Prime. Though their wounded pride continued to linger.

They had called a meeting and requested Knock Out's presence.

"What's done is done." Knock Out stated matter-of-factly.

"Megatron renounced the Decepticon cause, thus making the whole organization obsolete. Furthermore, he left."

"We're still Decepticon's!" one Vehicon protested irritably.

"And the Autobots are still Autobots! Can you even begin to _list_ the crimes their guilty of?" he argued heatedly.

"Oh, and I suppose _your_ dainty little servos are as pure as the white driven snow?" Knock Out sarcastically interjected.

"How can you just _stand_ there and take this!" the Vehicon leader argued.

"You're an officer of the Decepticon army, _you_ should be organizing us in a strike against them!"

Knock Out however was unmoved.

" _Me lead_ , oh I don't think so. I've already tried my hand at that. And honestly, it didn't go well." he added scratching the back of his head, still embarrassed by the memory of attempting to be Starscream's second in command.

The Vehicons began to grumble more quietly now.

"That new Prime may say he's going to give us the benefit of the doubt, but I'll bet you anything there just biding their time!" the leader protested.

Knock Out then examined his fingers.

"Then you'd lose that bet." was all he would say.

After a moments silence, he looked up at the assembled Vehicons.

"Look, times change." he pointed out.

"The Decepticon's are done. I was there and I saw it happen. The Autobots want peace and are bending over backwards to make it happen. So I suggest you either get with the program and move forward, or risk getting left behind." He stopped, glaring hard at each of them in turn.

"Course it's just a suggestion." he shrugged before leaving.

"So it is true after all." the lead Vehicon said, "Megatron did dissolve the Decepticon's."

The other Decepticon's surrounding him reacted to the news audibly, if not visibly, noising disbelief, looking among one another.

"What do we do now?" one of group asked.

The leader merely looked away, silently brooding.

"This new Prime said that all Decepticon's can surrender and help in the rebuilding of Cybertron. Or we can stay neutral and he claims the Autobots won't bother us." he stated.

"Well, is that such a bad idea?"

The Decepticon's present looked around, mumbling from one to another about the idea.

 **Chapter: 3**

As Team Prime were finishing checking on the all the reconstruction sights, Smokescreen happened to look up. He spotted another one of Bulkhead's repair teams.

One of the Vehicons spotted them as the walked and paused, probably just to get a decent look at them.

Unfortunately, he'd been pulling on a chain that had been holding a large beam steady. The Vehicon got distracted and his grip slipped.

It was only for a moment, but this caused the beam to swing wildly until the Vehicon realized what he'd done.

Smokescreen attempted to warn him.

"Look out below!" he called.

But it was too late, he lost his grip completely and the beam cam tumbling down towards the group.

But before Smokescreen could do anything. He was pushed out of the way by Bulkhead, who tackled him in order to shield him.

Everyone else also interposed themselves between Smokescreen and the beam.

Once he was allowed up, Smokescreen dusted himself off.

"You okay?" Bulkhead asked concerned as he attempted to help straighten him up.

"I'm fine Bulkhead." Smokescreen attempted to reassure him.

But before he could say anything else the others rushed over to check for themselves.

Ratchet and Knock Out both pulled out scanning devices to check him for injures.

"Everything seems alright, but perhaps we should check you out back at medical." Ratchet advised.

Arcee then seemed to get angry, she turned her attention to the Vehicon who'd inadvertently caused the accident.

"Hey! Do you have any idea what you just did? You could have killed him!" she snapped.

The Vehicon in question meanwhile appeared, to Smokescreen at least to be genuinely contrite.

"Sorry! My fault." he called down to them.

Smokescreen was exasperated, this wasn't the first time they'd done something like this. Ever since his transformation everyone on the team seemed more worried about his health and safety than ever before.

"Please, I'm all right, it was an accident." he argued gently.

While it looked as though they still wanted to berate the one responsible. The others dropped the subject at his behest.

As the started to leave, Smokescreen noticed a crowd of Vehicons murmuring. They didn't appear hostile, most likely they were gawking at Smokescreen himself.

Smokescreen noticed them, and couldn't help but give a small sigh. This wasn't the first time "that" had happened either.

Ultra Magnus caught sight of Smokescreen's trepidation, looking past him he saw the cause.

"The crowds are moving in. Well, one has to expect a little gawking from the public when accompanying a Prime out on official business." he noted casually, perhaps too casually.

His words however made Smokescreen come to a realization. That's why everyone had been acting so differently around him lately.

xxxx

Once they'd returned to Iacon, Smokescreen was ready for more work. So he turned to Ratchet, who had the list of agenda's for the day.

"Is there anything else we need to do?" he asked eagerly.

"No I believe that's it." Ratchet replied.

Smokescreen looked away and responded with a deflated, "Oh."

When he looked back he noticed the looks of concern on everyone's faces. He didn't want to worry them.

"If you don't mind, I'd like just a few moments alone." he asked politely.

They all seemed surprised, for a moment it appeared as though Bumblebee was about to object. But Arcee, possible in a moment of understanding raised a hand to stop him.

"Sure." she replied concisely. She threw a glance to all of them. And each in turn seemed to get the message.

At that they made to leave.

After that Smokescreen was alone. After a moment, he began to walk down the hallway. He didn't have any destination in mind, he just wanted to walk.

As he was walking he came to a part of the building that housed statues of all the Primes that held the title following the legendary thirteen. He came upon the statue of Optimus and stopped. He looked just beyond it. Some of the Vehicons had started work on a statue in his likeness, but he was not altogether eager for its completion.

"What's the problem? Pardon me, what's the problem sir." asked a voice from behind him.

When Smokescreen turned around, he saw the voice belonged to Ultra Magnus.

"It's nothing important." Smokescreen answered unconvincingly.

"That despondent tone doesn't sound like "nothing"." Magnus replied, giving Smokescreen a knowing look.

No more words are forthcoming, only a disconcerted look. Smokescreen sighed lightly.

"It's nothing, only... Optimus saved earth, he saved Cybertron, and all I seem able to do... is smile and wave." he noted with tinge of bitterness.

"It's not that I'm ungrateful, and I'm not trying to be a glory seeker." he clarified.

He then walked dejectedly away along the corridor. He stepped out onto a nearby balcony and leaned against the railing.

"But sometimes I wonder what my role is meant to be now. I want have a purpose. Make a contribution."

As he turned away from the rail, Magnus followed him out onto the balcony.

"It's true your destiny's uncertain." Ultra Magnus noted sympathetically.

Smokescreen turned to listen intently.

"But it will become clear. With time." Magnus pointed out.

"Besides that, that power lies in your spark because you earned it." he added with a hint of pride in his voice.

Smokescreen nodded at that, but lowered his head again.

"But, something else is bothering you?" Magnus inquired.

"I may be the Prime on duty, but I don't think that means I have to be nursemaided through every moment of every day." he explained, "I appreciate everyone's concern, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. No one should treat me any differently just because I'm a Prime. I'm not better than anyone else."

"Your time will come, and the others will see that too."

At that Magnus left to leave, and give Smokescreen a moment alone.

xxxx

Megatron made to calm his thoughts, and attempt to feel the presence of the Allspark. Then, just as he'd begun to relax, he saw something in his mind's-eye.

A shadowed figure hidden inside a bright pulsating light. It was coming, and it was getting closer…

"Just… a dream." Megatron stammered.

Megatron gasped and sat up again, panting.

He had already lost count of how many times he'd had that vision.

This vision was… illogical, he already knew the folly of trusting to visions.

Even so, a thought came to him. Could his visions be a warning… could something be happening on Cybertron? He had to admit he still cared for his home planet, but he could never go back.

xxxx

Some Vehicon's grumbled to one another as they walked.

No one noticed the light flikering in the distance behind them, that seemed to be watching from afar.

They continued walking, unaware of what was behind them.

Suddenly, one of the lights popped out. This caused one of the Vehicon's to look around confused.

"What's the matter now?" the leading Vehicon asked a little impatiently.

"Well, I've been gettin this weird feeling. Like somebody's...watching us." he whispered.

"Are you serious? Don't be a whimp." he replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious!" He was still whispering, this time a little angry that the others didn't believe him.

"Oh, are you saying it's a ghost?" the lead Vehicon asked.

Suddenly, they heard something fall. They rushed over to the see what it was.

They looked around and found a tool box on the floor, fortunately, there was nothing.

"I don't geti it… nobody was using that… but it's like someone threw it."

"Maybe, it really is a ghost…" one of the others wondered aloud.

"If sombodies there you better just show yourself!" called the leader.

There was no answer, nothing happened at all.

"Come on! Show yourself and stop bothering us! You think this is funny?" He shouted.

Then a light bagan to flash before them like lightning, and some shape began to form in front of them. It was humanoid, but it was to bright to make out more than a vuage shape.

"I don't belive this!" the leader noted in disbelief.

The Vehicons could only watch in horror as the figure drew closer.

Then suddenly, it just faded away and everything seemed normal again. The Vehicon in the back of thr group rushed forward.

"What happened to it?" he asked.

"Whatever it was. It's gone, for now..." he commented and wiped his forehead.

"That's it I'm calling this in!" cried one of the other Vehicon's.

Minutes later Ultra Magnus arrived on the scene.

"Officer of the law. What's the problem here?" he asked.

Before he could say anything else, the Vehicons rushed him.

"It looks Cybertronian, but it's really a ghost!" one told him.

"I've seen it too!" another called from the back of the group.

"It's freak'in me out!" cried another.

Magnus, for his part was bewildered.

"Wait, you called me here because you saw...a ghost." he asked perlexed.

"How do we get rid of it?" another asked, he was speaking more to his fellow Vehicons than Magnus.

"I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll shoot it, that's what we'll do." one Vehicon nodded smugly.

"Hold on, hold on." Magnus waved them down, "We're not going to shoot anyone. Look, unless there's a real emergency, I have to leave."

"But what about the ghost?!" asked the panicked Vehicon.

Ultra Magnus sighed.

"I'll have someone look into it. But I can't promise anything without solid evidence." he explained gently.

While that didn't seem to saticfy the Vehicons, they did calm down somewhat.

"Maybe we should stay in groups. You know, in case of ambush. Strength in numbers." one offered.

"Right. That way we can feed you to it, and it'll leave the rest of us alone." he compatriot snapped.

 **Chapter: 4**

Megatron's training session had been uneventful. Megatron had sat perfectly motionless on the floor for hours, and managed to still his thoughts. However, the vision came again.

It was looking for something. What was it looking for? What did it want?!

He fell forward, collapsing. He wrapped a hand around his head, trying to block out the images plaguing in his mind.

It took him a moment to calm himself.

"Another vision." he finally said, without looking at him.

He just wished he knew what he was supposed to do. Something was happening somewhere back on Cybertron, and that figure was at the heart of it.

xxxx

Meanwhile back on Cybertron, at the moment Arcee and Wheeljack were on duty handling emergency calls.

"Another call, It's for you." Arcee called over to Wheeljack, who was siting nearby.

"Yeah, could you take a message, please?" he sighed.

"It sounds urgent." Arcee shrugged.

"Hang on. Yeah, Wheeljack here. Really? A ghost. Funny. Look, it's very convincing, big laughs. But I gotta go." he hung up with grumble.

"Great, I had to take a crank call about a haunting." he then gave Arcee a suspicious look.

She noticed this, and understood what he was thinking.

"I didn't set that up." she raised her hands submissively, though she did betray a small smile.

Wheeljack took the grin as a confession.

"Yeah? I should believe you, why?" he asked still suspicious.

"Wheeljack, this is Cybertron. Everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts." she argued.

Before the pair could continue, they heard a singal bang on the door to th control room. Both exchanged confused and suspicious looks.

Suddenly, there was another bang, only this one knock the doors down. The doors had been blasted to pecies.

Arcee and Wheeljack made ready to fight, when Megatron himself emerged from the smoke.

"Where is Smokescreen?!" he demanded.

Wheeljack looked over to Arcee.

"Um, you were saying?"

xxxx

"I need to see whomever is in charge now! And..." he broke off as he realized he was being stared at.

"What? What are you staring at?" he demanded.

"Sorry if we seem a little unnerved, but, you sort of... left." Arcee stated, staring at Megatron.

Wheeljack stood by her side doing a pretty good job at not gawking.

"You're unnerved? I've been hounded by visions of a _something_ attacking Cybertron. And you're unnerved by _my_ return?!" He demanded.

Arcee and Wheeljack exchanged a look but Megatron remained as he was, arms folded, staring at them impatiently.

"Yeah, you win in the crazy department." Wheeljack told him.

Arcee guestred Wheeljack for quite, then turned back to Megatron.

"Hold on, back up. What's this evil _something_ you we're talking about?" she asked confused.

Megatron rolled his eyes.

"I was learning meditation techniques on the planet. One day I began to see something, a shadow, a sinister force. I knew I had to do something. So I returned to Cybertron." he continued.

Wheeljack looked to Arcee, baffled.

"Meditating? Tell me he's joking."

She shrugged, then turned her attention to Megatron again.

"You do realize we have absolutely no way to verify your, story." she stated as Megatron folded his arms.

"And just how do you plan to confirm it? Interrogation?" he demanded, his impatience finally getting the better of him.

"Oh, we can do one better than that." Wheeljack said with a grin.

Arcee looked at him confused.

"Wait, what do you…" she then grinned wickedly, "I get yeh. Irony, I like that." she noted with approval.

"Yep." He waited for it, "The good Ol' Cortical Psychic Patch." Wheeljack finished, a smirk on his face.

"WHAT! You can't be ser..." Megatron argued.

"What's the matter Megatron? Don't like to be on the receiving end of one of your old toys?" Arcee contered.

Megatron looked away from them

"My mind is not a pleasant place to find one's self." he argued quietly.

"Look, you want us to trust you. Then you've got to do the same." Arcee cut him.

She then turned away, "I'm calling the others in." she explained.

xxxx

"This Psychic Patch. Are you certain it will work?" asked Predaking, who was eyeing the equipment for the procedure suspiciusly.

Knock Out poked his head out from under the table he was working.

"It has in the past." he offered cheerfuly, "I've performed the procedure myself numerous times!"

He then noticed everyones eye on him, none of them looked comforted by this.

"...And perhaps that's something I should keep to myself." he noted sheepishly as he went back to work.

"That's super, Knock Out. Can we just hurry it up? I'm not a big fan of this stuff." Wheeljack replied.

Knock Out poked his head out again and asked.

"One too many horror films I take it?"

Wheeljack shook his head in reply.

"One too many run-ins with this machine." he clarified.

For his part, Smokescreen said nothing. He only eye'd Megatron suspiciously. What was this really about? What could be so dangerous that it would have drawn Megatron back to Cybertron? There were to many questions, and he didn't like any of them.

But before the procedure could begin, something happend. The power in the building began to fluctuate. The lights went off, then came on again.

It was another electronic disturbance.

"Oh! Oh! That's crazy." Knock Out noted as sparks began to fly from the his consoul.

Ratchet ran over to the same consoul to assist.

"Something's actually interfering with the frequency." he noted as he tried to turn it off.

"Pull the plug!" Bumblebee called.

"What?" Ratchet and Knock Out asked in unison over the noise.

Bumblebee rolled his eye's impatiently.

"Pull the plug!" he called louder.

Then suddenly, the patch equipment shut down. Everyone looked to see someone had pulled the plug.

It was Bulkhead.

"Ought to keep things quiet." he nodded proudly.

"Huh, the plug." Knock Out noted thoughtfully.

He then looked to Ratchet.

"Now, why didn't we think of that?"

 **Chapter: 5**

After the fiasco with the Psychic Patch, the group escorted Megatron to a cell.

"Okay, that was a spectacular failure." Arcee noted bitterly.

"Until we find out what happened to the equipment we can't know exactly what's going on. And that being the case Megatron should remain in custody." Ultra Magnus explained.

"The Vehicon's aren't gonna like this." Bumblebee noted with worry.

"Yeah, no doubt they'll be making demands he be released." noted Knock Out.

Everyone paused to look at him, surprised.

He looked at them confused, then realized.

"Not that I'd get them worked up! I don't want a riot anymore than anybody else!" he explained hastily.

Smokescreen shook his head.

"No, you're right Knock Out." he agreed.

"First priority will be redoubling all security measures." he looked to Predaking.

"Predaking, can I ask you to keep an eye on Megatron for the moment." he asked.

Predaking thought that over for a moment, then betrayed a small grin.

"It would be my pleasure to be the one responsible for preventing Megatron's escape." he agreed.

Smokescreen nodded, he and the others went on about what to do next.

With that Predaking was now alone. Just then he heard some strange noise.

Confused and curious, he turned around and walked toward the sound.

"Hello? Someone there?" he called into the dark.

Predaking looked around and heard more noises.

Just then a bright flashing light came out of nowhere.

"Who's there, speak!" Predaking called, rubbing his eyes, trying to blink away the ghostly image that just passed across his line of sight.

Suddenly the ominous glowing figure appeared again. Then the electronic disturbances returned as well, hitting Predaking directly in the chest and rendering him unconscious.

xxxx

"That's why you collapsed? A spark attack?" Bumblebee asked incredulously.

"I'm only telling you what the doctors have told me." Predaking told them.

"And they have no idea what caused it." Arcee stated flatly as she looked over to Ratchet and Knock Out.

Both were going over Predaking's medical readout, arguing as usual.

"Yes. Excessive physical and physiological stress caused me to suffer a spark attack." Predaking replied waspishly.

"Seriously, you can't expect us to believe you were brought down, by a case of nerves." Wheeljack sighed, shaking his head.

"Stop fretting!" Predaking barked, then assured, "I'll live."

Everyone looked to each other concerned, then to Predaking.

"Yeah... We have to go deal with some other stuff. Are you going to be...?" Wheeljack asked.

"I'm fine!" Predaking snapped.

"Alright, alright! We're going." Wheeljack rasied his hands in deafeat.

After that he and the others began to file out of the room.

"Smokescreen. I would speak with you a moment more?" Predaking called after him.

"Alright..." he agreed.

Predaking sighed as he forced himself out of bed as soon as Ratchet and Knock Out left.

"Shouldn't you be staying in bed?"

"No. I should be getting back to the hunt. I didn't wish to say anything with the others still in the room. I saw something. Something I wish to keep between us." he asked.

"Oh. Oh, okay."

"There was an electrical problem with the lights. And then I saw something. A figure." Predaking informed him.

"Are you saying someone attacked you?"

"Not someone, something." Predaking clarified, "It wasn't entirely corporeal."

"Corporeal?" he asked.

"Physical, solid, whatever you wish to call it." Predaking clarified, "It was there and not there at the same time." he stated in a tone that Smokescreen instantly picked up on.

He was worried, Predaking was actually worried.

"There and not there at the same time? Are you saying you saw... a ghost?" Smokescreen asked.

"Young prime, the Lord of the Predacons does not see ghosts!" Predaking stated proudly.

"No. I'll check on it. I'll let you know if I learn anything." he assured him as he turned down the hallway.

It took a good five minutes before Smokescreen was able to wipe the look of confusion off his face.

xxxx

Sometime later, Smokecreen found Ratchet. He was still going over Predaking's medical chart.

"Ratchet." he called.

The doctor looked up.

"Tell me, Ratchet, you're a scientist. Do you believe in ghosts?" he asked casually.

Ratchet thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I believe in energy. When a spark goes offline, that energy has to go somewhere.  
So theoretically, I suppose it's possible. Why?" he asked in turn.

Smokescreen sighed.

"The topic's come up recently." he replied.

Then a thought occurred suddenly to him. Smokescreen turned back to Ratchet.

"Where's the video surveillance footage?" he asked exited.

Ratchet looked at him puzzled.

"Uh, why?" he asked.

Smokescreen was thinking fast.

"I need you to pull up the footage from yesterday."

Smokescreen and Ratchet rushed to the security center. Where all security footage from secure areas was recorded and stored.

Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee had been placed in temperery heads of security.

When they walked in Smokescreen explained what he wanted to Bumblebee.

"No problem." Bumblebee replied, "That's one of the few systems that's still working around here."

His fingers dancing across the input board. A loop of video played on the holographic display.

"Okay pull up the footage from where Predaking was from around the time of the power surge."

"What is that?" Ratchet asked, staring intently at the display.

"There was a power surge before Predaking blacked out, he said that the lights went haywire, and then he saw a figure. I'm betting that's it." Smokescreen replied.

"I suppose that answers your question about ghosts." Ratchet added.

"Freeze it there." Smokecreen pointed at the image.

There was an image, but it vanished just as Bumblebee paused the footage.

"That's weird, it disappeared." Bumblebee noted confused, turning partway around in his seat to look at another monitor.

"Move it forward, slowly." asked Smokescreen.

"It's probably moving too fast for our optics to pick it up." Ratchet explained.

"There! Back up." Smokescreen asked, "There's our ghost." he noted.

All three of them looked at the image stunned.

"Is that who I think it is?" asked Ratchet.

"Unreal. Now we just got to find him again." Bumblebee added.

Ratchet gave Bee as sour look.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" he asked agitated.

Bumblebee paused thoughtfully before he said anything.

"Do ghosts have frequencies?" he asked at last.

Smokescreen and Ratchet gave each other a stunned look.

"Oh."

 **Chapter: 7**

Meanwhile, Arcee and Wheeljack were on guard duty. at the entrance to Vector Sigma.

After Jack and Arcee's expedition, it had been decided that the entrance should be guarded. The entrance itself wasn't well-hidden, but hardly anyone ever went there anyway.

Wheeljack looked up at the structure behind him.

"So this thing holds the wisdom of the Prime's huh?" he asked Arcee idly.

"Yep." Arcee shrugged.

"So how does that work exactly? I mean the matrix has the wisdom of all the primes that came before. So why'd they build this thing to do the same thing?" he went on.

"Wheeljack," she replied in a bored tone, "I have no idea. It's a prime thing. That's what they did."

Wheeljack shrugged passively.

"Whatever." he replied.

A second later the pair heard the sound of jets heading there way. When they looked up they saw a squad of Vehicons coming in to land. The pair gave each other a look of suspicion.

The Vehicons landed not far from them and started aproach the two Autobots. There leader, however, transformed in midair and landed precisely between them and the other Vehicons.

"Can we help you with something?" Arcee asked, glaring up at the lead Vehicon. "Cause visitong hours are nine to five-" she mocked.

The lead Vehicon took a step closer, he looked to his troops and nodded.

"Take um!"

Arcee turned and saw another group of Vehicons were rushing towards them.

That was the moment they realized they were under attack. Arcee and Wheeljack got their blasters at the ready.

"What is this all about? Thought we were all buddies now?" Wheeljack joked.

"Wheeljack, don't taunt the tourists." Arcee called as she dodged weapons fire.

Wheeljack fired at the advancing Vehicons, before Arcee forcfully lowered his weapons.

"No shooting! Just keep it um in check or we'll have a riot." she called again.

"Right, I know I know!" he replied with a grumble.

He turned his attention back to the oncoming gang and caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun toward the movement and brought his swords to bear on the threat at hand, but it was too late.

Arcee saw Wheeljack go down and raised her weapon to fire but hesitated when she saw that the Vehicons had there weapons pressed against Wheeljack's head.

"The question is, are you gonna surrender? Or do we scrap you're Wrecker friend?" the lead Vehicon replied as he pointed at Wheeljack.

Arcee lowered her weapons slowly. She exchanged a glance with Wheeljack l who was still being pinned to the ground. He nodded her in understanding.

"Scrap." she slumped forward, head hanging low as she sighed.

xxxx

Wheeljack lay where he had fallen, out cold.

"Wheeljack!" Smokescreen called as he and the others ran to the prone body.

"You alright?" he asked as Bulkhead helped him up.

"What happened?"

"Decepticon's, a dozen of them, took Arcee." he told them as he rubbed the side of his head.

"What?!"

"My fault, took me by surprise. They were gonna take me, but she took my place. If anything happens..."

"It won't, we already know where they took her. Besides, she knew what she was doing." Smokescreen interrupted.

"So where did they take her?" asked Bulkhead.

"Well, what's down there?" He asked as he looked down the long corridor.

"Vector Sigma..." Bulkhead stated.

"We need to call in the Predacons. Gonna need the extra muscle." Wheeljack told them.

"That's not necessary." Smokescreen protested, turning back.

"A mad cabal of Decepticon's is holding one of our team! How is that "not" necessary enough?" Wheeljack argued as he activated his comm system.

"They're not crazy. They're scared, and if they see Predaking and the Predacons, this is get worse before it gets better." Smokescreen warned him.

"My point exactly. They're armed and dangerous. I don't see any other choice, do _you_?" Wheeljack asked, agitated.

Smokescreen thought about that for a long moment.

"I have an idea. But it's pretty crazy." he replied at last.

That took Wheeljack aback for a moment. Once he recovered, he smiled jovially.

"Crazy? I love crazy. What's the plan?" he asked eager.

xxxx

"Okay, I hate this plan." Wheeljack bemound.

"Your the one who said he loved crazy." Bulkhead argued.

"So why did we come here again?" asked Wheeljack.

"I want to stop them, not vaporize them. Megatron is the only one who can talk them down." Smokescreen explained as they turned and headed towards Megatron's cell.

"Smokescreen, Wheeljack, what is going on?" Ratchet demanded as he met them outside.

"Where's Megatron?" Smokescreen asked bluntly.

"Inside and he's getting worse." Ratchet told them as he followed after.

"What happened to your head?" he asked Wheeljack.

"Trust issues." Wheeljack replied.

"What's going on?" Ratchet asked bemused.

"We have a dozen Decepticon's who are probably together and definitely armed. Megatron's their leader, and they'll listen to him." Smokescreen answered succinctly.

The they arrived at Megatron's cell, they found him sitting on the floor.

"It's here, that's why you've come." He stated, not turning around to face them.

"Yes." Smokescreen told him.

"It picked Cybertron for a reason." Megatron said slowly.

"It?" Ratchet asked, sharing a significant look with Smokescreen.

"I need to go. I need to face it." Megatron stated as he stood up.

"You know who it is then?" Smokescreen asked.

"The creature. A nameless creature from the void, and now it's here, hiding in plain sight." Megatron told him.

"What's he talking about?" Wheeljack demanded.

"I need a mintue alone with him." Smokecreen stated suddenly.

Bulkhead, Ratchet and Wheeljack were taken aback.

"What for?" asked Bulkhead, bewildered.

"Bulkhead," Smokescreen turned to face him, an imploring look in his eyes.

"I know what I'm doing, please." he turned to look at all of them.

While still hesitant, all three slowly made to leave the room.

Once they did, Smokscreen turned his attention back to Megatron.

"Nothing you do in the future will ever make up for what you've done in the past." he stated bluntly.

"Somewhere deep down you you knew it what you were doing was wrong, but you convinced yourself everyone you were hurting deserved it. You became numb to the suffering of others, and you learned to shut out the voice speaking against it." he finished.

For a long moment, their was silence between them both.

"But," Smokescreen added, "Your here, now."

Megatron eye'd him thoughtfully for a long time. Then he responded.

"There was always another path." he replied solemly..

"That's true." Smokescreen nodded.

"I chose to ignore it." Megatron continued.

"But your here, now." Smokescreen reiterated.

"I sit here, and I cannot conceive the day when I will forgive myself." Megatron countered.

Smokescreen went silent again. This was not how he'd wanted this conversation to go. He needed Megatron's help if he was going to save Arcee, and the Vehicons.

Then he realized something.

"Because it'll never come." he answered.

Megatron looked at him confused.

"Maybe someday, if your very fortunate, very fortunate. Others will forgive you, but that has more to do with them than you." he continued.

"Then what's the point?" Megatron asked, curious.

"It's simple. You'll never forgive yourself. You have to accept that. You hurt people, to many to count, that can't be undone. But that doesn't have to be your only legacy. You can still help."

Megatron continued to eye his curiously.

"What do you need me to do?"

xxxx

Ultra Magnus and the rest of the team made ready to enter the structure housing Vector Sigma.

He was making plans with Bumblebee and Predaking when he got a call over his comm link.

"Magnus, give us some good news." Smokescreen told him as he and Megatron made there way to his location.

"They say they won't turn over their hostage until Vector Sigma is offline. They seem to believe it is creating this ghost they've all been seeing." Magnus told him.

"Okay. Still, it's a big leap from ghosts to Vector Sigma." Wheeljack stated dryly.

"Yeah, but we're not talking about any ordinary electrical disturbance here." Bumblebee stated.

"Still, they can't seriously think Vector Sigma has anything to do with this?" Wheeljack cut in.

"From what little I've been able to gather." Magnus told them, "They seem to believe it's the ghost, of Optimus Prime." he finished slowly.

"What?!" asked everyone simultaneously.

"Well, looks like we got a bunch a crazies on our hands." Wheeljack grumbled.

"That doesn't matter." Smokescreen interjected, "What matters is that we stop this before it gets out of hand."

Just then, he and Megatron made it to the entrance to Vector Sigma. Magatron landed and the pair transformed.

"I need to get in there." Smokescreen stated as he and Megatron apporached.

"No, he does not. I do." Megatron interrupted.

"Well that's never gonna happen." Wheeljack stated bluntly.

"I can negotiate with them. They know me." Megatron stated.

"So do I." Ultra Magnus cut him off.

"Look, we just need time. Give us a chance to talk to them." Smokescreen implored.

Ultra Magnus looked from Smokescreen to Megatron, and back.

"...Alright." he agreed.

"And him." Smokescreen told him, pointing to Megatron.

"Are you certain?" Magnus asked him, glancing at Megatron.

"You must trust me, _I know what im doing_." Smokescreen looked Ultra Magnus in the eye, not flinching.

Ultra Magnus nodded and stepped aside.

As he and Megatron entered the structure, he happened to spare a glance at Megatron.

"Odd, isn't it? The one Decepticon in the universe who thinks he can't be saved now wants to save everyone else." he noted casually.

Megatron through a suspicious glance at Smokescreen.

"At the risk of over-inflating your ego, let me tell you something. Being optimistic when you know the odds are against you is not wrong. Idiotic perhaps, but not wrong." he replied.

Smokescreen was so puzzled by the remark, that he paused for a moment.

"Hmm...Thank you?" he replied as he stared walking again.

"Neither is refusing to let go of that optimism. That takes strength, and courage. Not all leaders have to be brooding...or ruthless to be successful." Megatron clarified.

"I thought you said you didn't want to over-inflat my ego." Smokescreen asked with just the twinge of a smile.

"I don't." Megatron shrugged, but added, "But... that doesn't make what I said any less true."

xxxx

As they made their way inside, the Vehicons noticed it was barren except for a large familiar machine near the back. the container of Vector Sigma itself.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle began to emit around them, startling them. Save for Arcee, it was a surprising turn of events.

"It's Vector Sigma!" one of them gasped.

The leader clenched his fist coolly, stepping toward the device.

"Enough sight seeing, you know what to do!"

They all walked up to the machine, trying to find a way to dismantle it.

Vector Sigma gave off a hum as it started to come to life before them, it let out a burst of energy like lightning that nearly fried one of the Vehicons.

There leader stood in the middle of the group. He primed his weapon and pointed it down at Arcee.

"Tell us how to turn it off!" he demamded.

"Even if I knew how, I wouldn't tell you." she stated plainly while glaring at him.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps, faint but growing nearer.

"Idiots. Who was keeping lookout?" there leader grumbled unhappily.

The footsteps continued. The Vehicons waited tensely as they came closer.

"Who is it?" one of them called.

"It's me, Smokescreen. I'm unarmed." Smokescreen called back.

One of the Vehicons stepped closer to geta better look.

"He's telling the truth, and..." he called to the others.

"And, and what?" the leader demanded.

"Lord Megatron's with him." the lookout replied, mystified.

That surprised all of the Vehicons.

"What?!" asked one, baffled.

"Finally!" cheered another.

"Yeah!" two more cheered in unison.

The Vehicon commander however was suspicous. But he couldn't think straight.

"Shut it!" he demanded.

They all went silent.

"Alright, you can come, both of you. But don't try anything." he ordered.

With that Smokescreen and Megatron approched. When they were close enough, Megatron stood quietly, not interfering.

Smokescreen took another step, the tense Vehicons raised their weapon. So he stopped and raised his hands passivly.

"You all of you need to listen. Any minute now, this place is gonna be swarmed by the only people on the planet who are better armed than you." he explained.

"We'll do what we have to." the Vehicon commander snapped.

Smokescreen shook his head.

"No, you're gonna get hurt or worse." he argued.

"We can't trust him. He's one of them." another Vehicon argued.

"Then don't trust me. Trust your own common sense." Smokescreen countered.

"Oh, so, what, we're stupid now?" asked another Vehicon.

"We know what we saw. We've all seen it!" argued another.

Smokescreen guestered at them all imploringly for calm.

"What you've all seen, it's not the ghost of Optimus Prime. It is alive, but it's not what you think." he explained.

That made many of them pause, it was clear to Smokescreen that they hadn't expected him to say that he believed them.

Unfortunatly, their leader was not so easily detered.

"Nice try. Now tell us how to turn it off, or your little friend gets fragged." he demanded as he held Arcee and gunpoint.

Smokescreen stood firm.

" _No_." he replied succinctly.

The Vehicon commander was taken aback.

"Were not playing games here! We'll do it!" he argued.

Smokescreen nodded thoughtfully.

"That's ture, but you don't _have_ too. _You_ have the power to stop this, _you_ , all of you!" he turned to look at every Vehicon in the room.

"I know you're feeling powerless, and afraid. But you _do_ have power and you're not alone. You may not know it, but your lives affect countless others. You just don't know how much, you only need someone to tell you. So I am telling you: You are not powerless, and you not alone."

As he continued, more and more of the Vehicons began to lower their weapons. They then each began to give each other curious looks.

"I want you all to listen at me. Because what I'm about to say is important. I've been thinking about this myself lately. And I want you all to know. You're not useless. You're unique. You mean something. And you can do amazing things. Don't ever think otherwise. We're stronger with you than without you!" he finished.

Everyone looked to the Vehicon commander. Who in turn looked at them when he saw their eyes on him.

After a long moment of looking each of them in the eye, he lowered his weapon.

"…Fine. You win." he replied at last, in a defeated tone.

"Impressive." Megatron gave a solem nod of approval.

Smokescreen lowered a hand for Arcee and smiled.

"Seems rescuing you is becoming a habit." he teased lightly.

Arcee gave him a cocky smile in retun as she took his hand.

"Don't get used to it." she countered as she got to her feet.

Smokescreen smiled back.

xxxx

A voice came echoed out from within the chamber, "We're coming out! Hold your fire!"

Bumblebee and Ultra Magnus shared a confused look.

"Someone's coming out. Weapons down! Stand down! They're unarmed!" Bulkhead called to the others.

As the Vehicons marched out, Smokescreen, Arcee and Megatron walked out ahead of them.

"Walk towards us!" Ultra Magnus called to the Vehicon's leader.

Smokescreen straightened as he led them out.

"So, that's it? No smashing?" asked Darksteel.

"So it would seem." Sky Lynx shrugged.

Then suddenly and without warning, Knock Out arrived. He was riding atop an Insecticon, posing dramaticly with one foot forward, back stright and tall and resting one forearm on his's knee as he held an energon prod proudly in the other. The "Ride of the Valkyries" blasting from his sound system as the Insecticons came in to land.

When the Insecticon he was riding dropped down. Still looking smug, Knock Out straightened and jumped lightly down, snapping his fingers. As if on que, the Insections he'd brought with him transformed.

"So sorry to keep you waiting." he noted with a florish.

Everyone looked at him, and the Insecticons stunned.

"N..No..way! Yo...how?..." Bumblebee blubed.

"Now I know what you were thinking. "There's no way we'll get help in the nick of time. There's no heroes left to save the day". Well, this is the part were I say, "Ta-daa!" and save the day."

Smokescreen took in the sight.

"Well Knock Out, this is all well... amazing." he admitted, "But, we've actually handled the situation already." he gestured to the now captured Vehicons.

Knock Out took a quickly look past Smokescreen, then lost his cocky demeanor and slumped. He turned back to his Insecticon army.

"Sorry boys." he apologized, "Parties over."

The Insecticons took the news badly, many lowered their heads in disappointment. Many others grumbled vocally.

Just then, another electronic disturbance occured. Again lights came on and went out all around them.

"Wha? What is that?" Bulkhead asked as he turned to the others.

Smokescreen, Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Ratchet exchanged grave looks.

"Our ghost." Wheeljack replied.

Smokescreen turned to Ultra Magnus.

"Get everyone out of here." he ordered.

Ultra Mangus was confused, but nodded in reply

"Everyone! Get out of here! Get out! Move!" he ordered.

Meanwhile, the ghost-figure had again appeared. Smokescreen the others could see the ghost aparently leaving the area.

"No. You wont get away!" Megatron growled as he gave chase.

Smokescreen saw this and tried to stop him.

"Megatron! You don't understand!" he called after him.

Megatron paused and turned, "I know what I'm doing." he argued.

He then turned to face the ghost again.

"And you!" he threatened, "So help me..."

But just as Megatron was prepared to fight. He discovered something.

As the light surrounding the ghost fluctuated. It became easer to make out a shape of the distorted form.

"...Soundwave?" Megatron identified his former comunications officer.

"Soundwave, is that..." he reached out a hand.

"Stop! Don't touch him!" Smokescreen warned as he rushed to Megatron's side.

Cuatiously, he rasied his hands as a sign of no hostiliy and spoke to Soundwave.

"It's alright, Soundwave. We're here to help." he assures him.

The others stood a considerable distance from them, looking confused.

"Man, whatever happend really did a number on him." Wheeljack noted as he looked upon Soundwave.

"Why's he like that?" muttered Arcee.

"He's losing molecular cohesion." Ratchet explained.

"Ah..." Bulkhead nodded, "What does that mean again?"

Ratchet rolled his eyes.

"It means he's falling apart at the seams Bulkhead."

Bulkhead was stunned.

"So what' gonna happen to him?" he asked more concerned now.

Ratchet said nothing, a grim look upon his face.

"He's not gonna make it." Knock Out grumbled.

Everyone looke back at Soundwave. Upon closer inspection, it was clear he'd been torn apart. It was as if peices of Soundwave had been cut off.

Smokescreen watched Megatron. Who betrayed no emotion: there was no hint of anything other than cool detachment in his optics and body language as he casually, almost callously, looked over Soundwave.

"Is there nothing to be done?" he asked calmly.

Ratchet looked up, then shook his head.

"In simplist terms, he tride to tear a hole in spacetime with his bare hands. He's managed to break thorugh several layers but...it cost him."

Megatron then turned away.

"Raaaargh!" he howled with rage. Clenching his fist, he returned his gaze to Soundwave.

"Yeah, that's a bummer. There wont even enough of him left to recycle". Darksteel noted.

Predaking smacked procceded to smack him outside the head.

"Show some respect!" he barked, "Soundwave may not have been an ally, but he was an honorable warrior. And that deserves respect!"

Smokescreen and Bumblebee exchanged discreet glances.

"Is there nothing you can do?" Smokescreen asked the doctors.

Both Ratcht and Knock Out looked to each other gravely.

"We might be able to bring him in..." Knock Out noted hesitantly.

"But you wont like what comes out." Ratchet finished.

Smokescreen thought about that for a moment, he then looked over to Megatron.

At that moment Megatron was leaning closer to Soundwave, looking down at the his ruined officer. There was no from him that he was aware of his master presence, except when he slowly tilted his head in Megatron's direction.

"Soundwave, can you hear me?" he asked eventually.

Soundwave's twisted slightly to look up at him, as if he had just woken up.

"I'm afraid old firend that you're doomed." he stated bluntly, "There's nothing we can do for you. Do you understand?"

Suddenly, and without warning, Soundwave began to stir again. Sparks began to fly everywhere.

Everyone looked around uncertain what Soundwave was doing, or what to do about it.

"Great you had to make him mad didn't yeh!" Wheeljack grumbled to Megatron.

Then suddenly, Laserbeak emerged from the distortion. He flew high above them for a moment, upon Megatron's shoulder.

Before anyone could make sense of this surprise. Soundwave himself began to flicker again.

Ratchet and Knock Out rushed over to the nearest control panel. But before they could even start, Soundwave vanished in a flash of light.

Ratchet lowered his head again.

"That's it, he's gone..." he noted sadly.

Knock Out said nothing, instead he balled up his fist and punched the nearby wall.

Everyone else was silent.

However something occured to Wheeljack.

"Wait, how did Laserbeak survive the crossover?" he turned to Ratchet and Knock Out.

The pair came out of their stupor.

"I suppose Soundwave had Laserbeak shielded. Certain frequencies and harmonics might have been enough to protect him, thanks to his smaller size." Ratchet noted.

Before he could offer more, Laserbeak became active. He stopped perching on Megatron's shoulder and came to hover directly in front of him. Then a holographic image of Soundwave appeared.

"Lord Megatron." it spoke, much to everyone's surprise, in Soundwave's deep natural voice.

Thank you." Soundwave continued.

"Without you I would have remained in the pits. I would never have found a purpose beyond that which the system demanded. But you gave me a chance to be part of something far greater. So again I give my thanks...For allowing me to serve you. It has been an honor. I hope I did not cause you excessive inconvenience." with that the message ended, and the image of Soundwave vanished.

At first Megatron did nothing.

He then marched in the opposite direction, out of the room. There was a steely glint in his optics, but he appeared unmoved by Soundwave's demise.

"I can't believe that guy!" Wheeljack noted bitterly, "Okay I was no fan O' Soundwave. But the guy deserved better than that little display!" he pointed after Megatron.

"I know. He should have a better send off than that." Bulkhead agreed.

Smokescreen discreetly turned away and saluted the spot were Soundwave had stood moments before.

"Who would have thought. That some-bot who seemed to care about nothing, actually cared so much." Bumblebee noted thoughtfully.

xxxx

"I just don't understand exactly how this happened." Smokescreen turned to Bumblebee.

"Soundwave was caught in a spatial implosion. You see we crossed the streams of two open space-bridges, there was a cascading effect, and he got caught in it." Bumblebee explained.

"Clever. Using his own strategy against him." Ultra Magnus noted.

"Well, we all assumed that he was dead. It turned out he'd just been shunted off into another dimension, we call it the Shadow Zone. Essentially stuck between universe's." added Bumblebee.

"So what happens now?" asked Darksteel, still scratching his head.

"Honestly? Who knows, maybe I'll hit the books. Still don't know how to spell corporeal." Wheeljack joked as an Insecticon walked by.

"C-O-R-P-O-R-E-A-L!" he spelled aloud in an agitated tone. Leaving the group to look after him, stunned.

"Well you saved Arcee, those Vehicons _and_ Cybertron. You must be feeling pretty proud." Knock Out noted with a satisfied nod.

"I suppose." was all he would say.

All present were shocked.

"You _guess_?!" they all noted in surprise.

"I just saw what needed to be done and reacted. It's just a coincidence I happen to a Prime... if any of you had been in my place, you'd have done the same." he argued.

"Forgive me for being blunt, but you're not making any sense." Arcee retorted.

"Wait a second. I think I get it. You keep insisting you're not special, but we all keep saying you are." Bulkhead noted.

"Come on, Smokescreen. You saved the all of our lives at least twice! I think you can give yourself some credit." Bumblebee argued gently.

That made Smokescreen pause for a moment.

"Mm, I suppose you're right." he agreed, "No matter how many times others tell you you're great, all the praise in the world means nothing if you don't believe it yourself."

It was then that Smokescreen looked over to Megatron, whom was standing alone not far away.

"Which lead's to another problem." he noted before walking over to him.

As the others watched silently, Smokescreen walked over to where Megatron stood.

"Here we are again. This is becoming a habit with you." Megatron noted as he looked up into the sky.

Smokescreen said nothing.

Megatron sighed.

"I came here looking for answers. And instead find only a parting gift, from a friend."

Smokescreen thought about that, then offered.

"I never knew Soundwave personally, but my impression was that he knew his chances. But wanted to give you some kind of closer." he suggested.

Megatron looked down at him puzzled.

"...and perhaps, let you know your not alone." Smokescreen finished.

At that moment, Laserbeak came down and perched upon Megatron's shoulder again. Megatron actually chuckled a bit as he looked upon the Minicon.

"Indeed, perhaps your right." he said at last

Smokescreen nodded with a slight smile.

"...Will you leave again?" he asked.

Megatron pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes, I think I can do more out their now. And I wont have to accomplish the task alone." he replied as he gave Laserbeck a thoughtful glance.

Smokescreen nodded at that.

"I thought so." he replied.

Megatron turned to leave, but then paused.

"However, if you ever need assistance, and you _will_. I'll be along." he added succinctly. He then transformed and took flight. While Laserbeak followed closely behind.

Smokescreen remained were he stood as the others came up to join him.

"So we're letting him get away, again." It wasn't a question.

"It seems to becoming a habit." Predaking noted with a slight frown.

Smokescreen turned to look at them both thoughtfully.

"I assume you want to go bring him back?"

Both Arcee and Predaking shared a thoughtful glance, then shrugged in unison.

"If he keeps out of trouble, I guess he can stay in exile." said Arcee.

"And if does not, then I will deal with him." Predaking added.

A small smile grazed Smokescreen's face.

"My only wish is that he finds peace with himself."

"Spoken like a true Prime." Ultra Magnus said with a small smile.

Smokescreen thought about that for a moment. Despite being a bit blindsided Soundwave's sad end. At the very least they had taken the first steps in normalizing relations between the former factions. They had started down the long road towards lasting peace for all Cybertron.

Knock Out took that moment to interrupt.

"Come, let's go focus on happier things." he said enthusiastically, "Like a new "Prime" name for ole Smokey."

"I'm thinking, Omega Prime!" he noted with gusto.

Smokescreen gave him an incredulous look.

"I don't think changing my name is..." but before he could finish, he was interrupted.

"Or Safety Prime!" Bulkhead put in, though a second later changed his mind. "Nah, that's no good. Fire Prime?"

"I really don't think..." Smokescreen tried again.

"Oh how about Guardian Prime? Or Alpha Prime?" offered Bumblebee.

Smokescreen, though reluctant, smiled.

"I'll admit, Omega Prime does have a certain appeal..." he noted thoughtfully as the group walked on.

The End

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Well, here we are again. I hope you enjoyed this sequel of mine. I'd like to think (or at least hope) I did justice to it. And I would like to thank all those who read the first instalment. I'll admit when I first published "Time War" I never would have expected such a positive response. Well I'm just happy some people enjoyed it.

Well I'm certain you've noticed this story takes a slightly different approach, it's really more of a mystery thriller than an sci-fi adventure tale. I had original envisioned an action packed story like the last one, but this story turned into something more cerebral. From the get-go I wanted to do something with Soundwave. I'd wanted to follow up on him in my first story, but I couldn't work him in, so I gave up. Then I came up with the idea of a Soundwave ghost. But beyond that I couldn't think of what I wanted for the plot! But after reading some responses to "Time War" I noticed someone mentioned the idea of the Autobots having trouble making peace with the Vehicons. Then it hit me, combine the two ideas! Mind you I didn't want to create any OC characters (you already know how much I don't like that), so none of the Vehicons are named directly.

I also wanted to develop Smokescreen's character more. And I did _not_ want to take the same approach with his character as had been done in the past with leader characters like Rodimus Prime from the original animated series (such a crybaby). So I took a completely different approach with him. I made it so he wasn't the one with the problem, but rather everyone else codling him too much and learning to back off. I thought that made for a more original story than Smokescreen complaining about having to many responsibilities.

As for the Vehicons, I've noticed some writers liked to make them ostracized (or simply think they're ostracized) because they're Vehicons. Now that's interesting, but since that never really seemed to be an issue in the show I decided to make the case that they felt ostracized because they were Decepticons instead.

As for Soundwave himself, he became a tricky character. I was originally going to let him live in a much more generically happy ending. But at the last minute decided to let only Laserbeak survive. Now I don't hate Soundwave, though I'll admit I have no great amount of love for the character either. I did however want his last moments to be very poignant. Honestly I never liked how Soundwave only had one "real" line in the "Prime" series, interesting as it was it only teased the audience. So I gave him some last words, hope they weren't to sappy.

One more thing, I hope Smokescreen and Megatron didn't come across as overly preachy. I wanted them both to have deep poignant lines. But in retrospect they might come across as a couple of windbags.

Well again I want to thank all the readers who made this sequel possible. I want you to know I read all your comments on my last story and respect your all your opinion's. Oh and one of you noted that you don't know if I'm a boy or girl, I'm most definitely a girl, suppose I should put that in my profile sometime in the future.


End file.
